Before the prospect of an intelligence explosion, we humans are like small children playing with a bomb [...] We have little idea when the detonation will occur, though if we hold the device to our ear we can hear a faint ticking sound

I have always felt uneasy about fervently religious schools. They seem to teach exactly the opposite of what education should be about — to give pupils all the facts and allow them to discover their beliefs for themselves... it is an anomaly to allow publicly funded schools to choose their intake, overtly or covertly, on religious background only. No other state-funded institution is exempt from t...See More

The business of illicit drugs is behind violence, corruption and crime in almost the entire planet, and we have to recognize that the so-called War on Drugs - which has been going on for half a century - has not been won or won.

The war on drugs is not being won, and it continues to threaten stability and democracy not only in the Andes but throughout the Caribbean as well, where tiny police and military forces are outclassed by the sophisticated equipment in the hands of traffickers passing through the region on the way to their market in this country.

On balance, internet voting is feasible, which if effectively deployed, could improve accessibility for voters, especially those that are overseas and others for whom access is an issue, such as the disabled. It could also potentially save costs and time.

When suffering is so great, when patients know they are at the end of life, make repeated pleas to die, it seems a denial of loving compassion which is the hallmark of Christianity to refuse to allow them to fulfil their own clearly stated request – after a proper process of safeguards. That is what I would want.

As it is, the grotesque distortions of the global market mean that for every dollar the West dispatches to Africa in the form of aid, two dollars are clawed back through subsidies and tariff barriers: a monumental rip-off by the rich as they instruct the poor to accept 'free' trade or else.

Many people who have lost out in the last few decades voted for Trump. Trump will have a difficult time turning them into winners. The jobs of these people are not at risk because of Chinese or Mexican workers, but because of robots and computers. And new trade barriers and higher tariffs are not going to change that.

The United States can't keep a completely open system if the rest of the world is less open. The United States may have to take a leaf out of the book of Japan, China, and Germany, and have protectionism inside the system.

There is a clear relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and a host of health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity and tooth decay. We are at a crucial tipping point. The SWEET Act would help correct the path we are currently on.

A tax on sugary soft drinks is the first step on the road to fat taxes and sugar taxes more generally. It makes little sense to tax sugary drinks on their own, rather than sugar more generally – a couple of Mars bars are just as bad as a bottle of Coke – but the Chancellor probably reckons that the public won’t care if he only targets soft drinks. Once the tax is in place, he will follow the lead ...See More

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, American radio host, environmental activist, author and attorney specializing in environmental law

None of the vaccines have more than a few months of double-blind placebo testing, which will not allow you to spot illnesses like autism that aren’t diagnosed before five years. Second of all, in most vaccines, for example the Gardasil vaccine, they don’t use true placebos.

He accepts there are “legitimate risks that we should be thinking about now”, but is adamant these are not the dystopian scenarios of science fiction in which super-smart machines ruthlessly dispense of their human creators.

Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development in Canada

I think it’s the principles behind the idea [of a guaranteed income] that matter. These principles are greater simplicity for the government, greater transparency on the part of families and greater equity for everyone

David Bellamy, English author, broadcaster, environmental campaigner and botanist

For the last 16 years, temperatures have been going down and the carbon dioxide has been going up and the crops have got greener and grow quicker. We’ve done plenty to smash up the planet, but there’s been no global warming caused by man

The choice may be a stark one, between the UK being in an EU that is inward looking [and] insular, [...] or outside, trading with the whole world including Europe, negotiating our own, better suited, trade deals with a focus on what the UK is good at

The sheer complexity of continuing European and global economic interdependence would replace one Europe-wide set of agreements with a thicket of even more. [...] All prospects would become trickier and harder still to navigate

Robert Shapiro, Chairman of economic advisory firm Sonecon, IMF advisor, former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce. Bl

stellacreasy, British Labour Co-operative politician, Member of Parliament

Can we make all carriages safe for all passengers rather than restricting where we can go? [It] doesn't keep women safe to restrict their movements - it normalises attacks. We need to be clear they [the attackers] are problem, not women's seating plans.

While leaving could allow for some policy improvements, it would also open the way for a whole list of dreadful policies regarding trade, immigration, and industrial policy that membership in the EU now precludes

Reza Moghadam, Economist and Vice-chairman for sovereigns and official institutions at Morgan Stanley

Macron is right - the Eurozone needs a finance minister. [...] it focuses on the essential: a collective action mechanism for managing and stabilising economies in crisis. It also does so without the need for EU Treaty changes

Moorad Choudhry, Head of Business Treasury, Global Banking and Markets at Royal Bank of Scotland

Far from being at risk of stagnation [after a Brexit], we would be able to present ourselves as a genuine open free market, no longer subject to EU bureaucracy and regulation. Expect things to go from strength to strength.

Genuine believers in enlightenment values must have the courage of their convictions …. they must learn to trust the people again: we are a sensible, grown-up nation, and we don’t need a bunch of European technocrats to force us to be free.

In the medium and long term Breset will herald a major growth-boosting period as the UK breaks free of the over-mighty EU with its protectionist mindset and establishes free trade and intelligent regulation aimed at UK economic interests

Gerard Lyons, Chief Economic Adviser to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London

Gisela Stuart MP, Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston, chair of Vote Leave

The NHS is struggling to cope with rising demand. If we Vote Leave we will be able to stop our money being spent on EU bureaucrats and instead invest in the NHS so that patients can get the best possible care.

[Brexit] would make me more negative about the medium-term for two reasons. (1) Disruption and uncertainty created by Brexit; (2) Lack of a clear alternative to underpin UK's trade and investment relationships

There’s a good reason why the TUC, EEF and IMF are talking about the real risk to our jobs and our economy [if we vote to leave the EU]. It is working class people across Britain who would be hardest hit if we end up losing those jobs.

I have difficulty in understanding those who insist on wishing to pay a basic income of 500 Euros per month to those earning a salary of 2000 Euros, and then deduct the same sum by raising their taxes deducted at source.